Council tables business license policy discussion

Tuesday

Feb 5, 2013 at 11:05 AMFeb 5, 2013 at 11:07 AM

City officials wrestle with stipulation regarding felony convictions

Taylor Muller/@TaylorMullerKDE

Another effort to revamp the city’s business license ordinance was tabled Monday after City Council members expressed an interest in making last-minute changes including reducing the length of time a felony can prevent a license being issued and also how much to charge storage unit owners.

The effort was the second in a week with Council having approved several changes at its meeting Jan. 28, including defining who pays gross receipts taxes and removing the stipulation that an applicant not have a misdemeanor conviction.

The felony stipulation remained, but there was confusion over the exact language due to a clerical error in distributing the proper ordinance beforehand.

And more confusion came out of Monday’s meeting, with City Manager Mari Macomber asking Council if they fully understood the changes they had approved last week.

Macomber also told the Council that the business license fees charged to storage unit owners had not been properly enforced, with the ordinance calling for a $10 fee per unit owned.

Currently, storage unit owners have been paying a flat $10 fee, no matter how many units were owned.

“We hadn’t been interpreting it right,” Macomber said.

At the advice of the City Attorney Howard Hickman, the Council was instructed it could amend the ordinance to levy a fee up to $10 per unit, but not beyond per the Hancock Amendment which requires substantial increases to tax revenue collections be voter-approved.

Mayor Richard Detweiler expressed a desire to not charge the full $10 per unit, proposing a flat $10 fee for the first unit and $1 for every additional unit.

“At this point, I don’t see how we can turn around and charge $10 per unit,” he said.

Council member Jerry Mills echoed that statement, commenting that at $10 a unit, some owners could be charged significantly more for the license.

“That’s a lot of money,” he said.

In similar arrangements, the city charges $1 per seat at a movie theatre and $10 a bowling lane for other business licenses.

At the same time during discussion, Detweiler also expressed a desire to amend the ordinance, reducing the scope of the no felony conviction requirement for the business license from the past five years to three.

“I can’t see adding a penalty, for five years, on top of the law,” he said.

Discussion also revolved around whether the felony convictions would be limited to those applicable to the operation of a business, like theft or fraud.

City Finance Director Katie Meyer said license applicants had expressed issues with the fact their felony conviction for something like theft would prevent them from running a business in Kirksville while a drug conviction may not.

“Why does [a] meth head get a license but I don’t because I stole money,” Meyer presented as an example of the complaints her office has received.

One such example was a local business owner who was convicted of a felony driving while intoxicated charge. Meyer said her office is many times unsure of whether something like a DWI conviction relates to the operation of a business.

“It comes down to how do you want to protect the citizens of Kirksville from certain individuals?” Meyer asked.

The Council adjourned from its study session with the intent of discussing the ordinance and making amendments during the open meeting, but city staff chose instead minutes later to table the ordinance and call for a special session later this month.

Any changes must be in place before March 1, when business license renewals are due.